Part 3: Fire and Destruction

Update 3: Fire and Destruction





Music: Town Where the Bells Chime


It turns out the options are randomized. I had to replay a couple of times to get Panthers to show up again. Dammit, game.

(Cupid Arrows? Seriously? Interesting that I should stumble on that so close to Valentine's, I guess)





Since we've completed the tutorial Shop Synthesis, Norman has a few new things we can try to make. I think Veola may have stuff as well, but we'll get to her a bit later. Let's try to make a drink to go with our fish, shall we?





Karikari Liquor requires Karikari Nuts (dirt common) but lets us choose the liquid part. Well, we've only got Ale, so...





WORTHLESS?! Jeez, that's harsh.





Oh, that's right – not only can items be used as gifts for your Mana, you can also straight up desynth them into basic elements. For example, this Karikari Liquor can be broken down into 4 Water and 3 Wood. There's no need to do that since those elements are super common, but it can be worth doing if you find a relatively common item that contains a relatively rare element.





Oh hey, it looks like we keep Key Items and normal items in the same menu.





Since we've learned about JUMPing, let's check out the upper part of Kavoc. While our home base is the main attraction, there's also a weapon store up here that's worth checking out.





Loser: The Meuniere at this store is unmatched. Oh, man...This Meuniere couldn't be any sweeter. I'd like to fill my house with this scent.


Uh...huh...







Hagel has a few upgrades for Klein, including some elemental canes for magic or a mace for hardcore physical damage. Meanwhile, this weapon offers Lita an attack AND defense boost, at the expense of dunking her speed a bit. Eh, she's already pretty fast, I think we can afford that for now.

He also has some crossbows and swords. I guess we'll have to find some new party members to use those.





Growloons are just those round guys, right? Why's everyone so afraid of them?

Growloons may look weak...but they can summon evil spirits. SO if nobody took care of the Growloons, there would be demons and things running around.

I see...


















Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture


Like what?

Like what? Like GIRLS! Since when were tutorials a boy's club?

Girls, huh?...

Anyway, today I've invited a special guest speaker.





Huh? Why'd you pick Lita?

Because today's lesson is about Growloons. And I, as a Galgazit, know all about them.

Since we have an expert in the field, feel free to take off, Klein.

Whaaat!? I'm the main character of the game!

You've had your fifteen minutes. Now it's my turn to shine!





I'm gathering that this game's tutorials take a Saturday Morning Cartoon approach to violence.


When left alone, Growloons can summon evil spirits. For this reason, make sure you defeat Growloons as soon as they appear.

But...aren't they strong?

Not at all, actually. One shot's all it takes. Even Klein could do it!

Got it. But I hear they can come back to life.

That's just a rumor. Once a Growloon's down, it's down for good. However, there's still a lot we don't know. Sometimes Growloons appear all at once.

Thanks a lot, Lita. I think we all learned something.

Good luck hunting Growloons! See ya!




Wow, Lita did a great job. Maybe I'll ask her back next time. That's all for today! See you next time!













Thug: I got a message for yous. “Go to da cathedral”.

Who sent the message?

Thug: He's at da place. You'll see 'im there.


The messenger walks out of the house.


The cathedral is Alkavana's headquarters. What could they want with you, Klein?

I guess we'll find out.





The NPCs talking about shops is kind of neat, but it's offset by how awkward the Mad Libs style line generator works. Sometimes you get nonsense sentences like this. The man next to this lady has a similar line, “I love the Meuniere because it's so deadly odor...”





Music: The Name's Beggur!


Ah, Klein. I've been looking forward to meeting you.

Who are you? How do you now my name?

Sorry, I'll get to the point. I am Beggur, General of the Alkavana. I'd like you to join us.

He's not interested!

I wasn't talking to you, girlie!

Grr...

Your power of Mana would be a valuable asset for the knights.





Music: And Fate Was Changed


That's...a Mana!

With your strength, we could rule the world!

How can you control that Mana?

Bwa ha! Intimidation, my dear boy! Nobody can ignore my mighty power! Bwuh ha ha ha!


Klein pauses for just a moment...





...and rushes Beggur.

It's ineffective because Klein has, like, no stopping power. But still, it's a nice effort.


...What was that?

You can't force a Mana to work for you! I'd rather die than join your stupid army!

What!? You insolent brat! Seize them!


The mooks walk toward Klein and Lita – and thus toward the Fire Mana...





Gah! Hothothothothot!


















Music: Klein and His Pleasant Friends


Delsus!

I figured something was amiss when I saw you enter the cathedral. You've got guts, though...Taking on the Alkavana won't be easy.

Who are they, anyway?

Heh, that might be good to know. They're trying to stop people form entering Avenberry, the town on top of the mountain.

Why?

Dunno...but a lot of people want to get in there. It's supposedly filled with countless treasures. So they decided that sopping thieves was their job...They're guarding a rumor, I guess.

Are you trying to reach Avenberry?

Nah. I'd rather hand out at the bar than fight the Alkavana knights. Why'd you pick a fight with them, anyway?

Um...do you two know each other?

Kinda. Well, we'd better start looking for the exit.





And we've got party member number three! We've finally got a full battle team, and just in time for our first dungeon-esque locale.





Music: Waterdrop Waltz


Oh yeah, somebody mentioned the barrels. When you approach a barrel and examine it, one of your party members will yell the world BARREL! Sometimes you get items (the game will give you an actual examine prompt for these). It's weird but charming.





Kavoc's Sewers are inoffensive as sewer levels go. There are a few paths but it's a smallish area and the encounter rate seems reasonable enough.







In fact, I might even go so far as to say I actually LIKE the sewers, simply because it's a nice little microcosm of exploration gimmicks. The path from the entrance to the exit is free of obstacles, but there are side paths that have various things we can't get over or around, and we'll be able to explore more and more as we progress through the game.





Oh, I guess I better talk about Delsus a little. At the moment, Delsus seems like Lita but a little better, having similar speed and a bit more power and durability. However, bear in mind that he's got three levels on her and he has a speed booster equipped (while her new weapon slows her down), so his stat gains aren't as universal as they may seem. He also has garbage magic resistances (his accessory also boosts his cold resist by a lot, so that's usually lower), but his magic attack and MP stats aren't completely dire at least.

In the long run, I recall Delsus being more of a jack of all trades type, and he's got a few nifty abilities that he'll learn over time. But we'll get to those when we get to those.





I have no idea what this sign is trying to tell me.





Delsus' crossbow attack also has an area of effect, somewhat inverted from Lita's. From our perspective, he can hit enemies to the left of his target, and just the tiniest bit above or below them. I guess it simulates his crossbow bolts going through one enemy into the others behind them or something. It's not quite as significant as Lita and Klein's areas of effect, but it's still useful.





I will destroy all the boxes





Sometimes we'll stumble across raw mana. These are items that can be desynthed into huge amounts of Elements, but they have another function that we'll learn about later. For now, I recommend saving all of them.





Lita hit level six and learned a new move. Force Blast is magic based, and despite Lita's pitiful magic stat it's quite powerful. It even has a large area of effect, so it works against multiple enemies.

It's also ludicrously expensive, costing 22 of Lita's currently 26 MP. That's a bit of a problem right now, but maybe I can make it more manageable when I can find/synthesis MP restorative items or get MP boosting equipment or something.







The exit of the sewers leads to the back room of Lyla's grocery store. I don't really know why she has a stairwell in her backroom (and bedroom, from the looks of it) that leads to a filthy, monster infested shithole, but I'm suddenly much less inclined to buy stuff from her.





We need to hide you somewhere.

Let's go home, then.


Yeah, they'll never look for us there!





...Lake Forwel should do.

Lake what?

There's a small village there. It's not much...but you should be fine.





Just stay out of trouble, okay?

You're an alchemist, right? How about we work together?

Are you sure about that?

You seem like a cool guy, sure. Let me in on the adventure. I'm Uru, Mana of Fire. Nice to meetcha.

Sweet! We got a new teammate!

















Music: Popo's Pleasant Money Lecture


Today we're going to learn about...

You'll learn to use Destruction Blast to clear obstacles on the map.





Hey, Uru. Why don't you teach us?

When you want to destroy something, rotate the action dial to the flame icon and press the square button!

Of course, there are some obstacles that simply can't be destroyed.

I see...So, you should experiment to discover what works and what doesn't.

Woo! Experiments rock! Let's try this one!

Whoa, hold on! Cut it ou-







Aha! So, today we learned that you can't destroy Klein. Uru, any thoughts?

Er...I was just demonstrating that the bomb won't work on humans. Got it?

And it's dangerous! So don't mess around. Oh yes, one last piece of advice! Every time you find a new Mana, you'll learn a new skill. Eventually you'll have a lot of cool options to play with – so go find some Mana!

















Sometimes we can trigger brief conversations by talking to our other party members at the base. They can be pretty neat, so I'll try to check up with them often.


Huh? Why do you ask?

Oh, just wondering...

You shouldn't use me to feel better about your decision. You know that, right?

I seriously just want to know.

Well, then...I guess I just wanted to have people who count on me.

...Why?

I thought I'd feel more important if people were counting on me. Being a Galgazit allowed me to be important to people.

You're a Galgazit now, too, so you can't be a slacker.

Who are you calling a slacker!?

Ha ha ha, just kidding...I'm counting on you, Klein.





Despite Delsus' warning, there's really no need to rush out of Kavoc yet – Lake Forwel is simply where the next event is.





Music: Revelation (Introduction)


We can even stroll right back into Alkavana headquarters without any worries. Also, the chapel gets it's own song for some reason, I guess because it's a fancy place.





Music: And yet more Waterdrop Waltz


Now that we've got Uru and his Destruction Blast, we can explore the sewers a little more. There are a couple new treasures to get that were blocked off by purple blocks before.





Sadly, there are more indestructible blocks that prevent us from reaching the next area. I wonder how we can get around those?





My characters leveled a bit more while I was exploring. Klein is getting an awful lot of defense from his levelups considering he's a caster. I remember him being quite flimsy, though. Perhaps this is just to help him survive the earlygame until he gets more Mana Items or something.





Oops, looks like I electrocuted Klein. What's this buildup of electricity doing in a sewer, anyway? Regardless, we can't get through to the goodies on the other side yet.

I think that's it for the sewers for now. Let's spend some time with our Mana.




Uru can handle three elements. Obviously he works best with Fire, but he can also manage Light and Power elements (at hefty multipliers). Now that he's here to help, we can make those Herbal Drops.





Oh, yeah, Mana tend to have pretty middling love and energy when they first join, so shower them with gifts! I have some mushrooms from the sewers that Uru seemed to like well enough. We'll give him some more stuff later.





All right, time to get out of here.





Mysterious British Gentleman: Don't worry, there are still ways to make use of him if he refuses to join us. So, the Lineage of Iris...I have plans for the girl, as well.






















This little spot unlocks alongside Lake Forwel. There's really nothing to do here yet, but we'll be back in a bit.





We're finally here! Hey, mind if we run to the store?

We wouldn't want to interfere with your errands...





Music: Lakeside


What's up, Gemlis? Anything for me today?

Hey, hey! I've got the perfect job for you! I'm making a fishing lure. I need some Stained Grass.

Stained Grass doesn't grow around here.

Exactly. That's why I need you.

Heh...Should've known. No problem, I'll check in the forest.

Thanks a lot, man. You're a pal.


When will the errands end? Oh well, let's check out that chest next to Gemlis.





Yup, that's a Mana Item, all right! I wonder what it's doing here...

Oh, you know what that is? It washed ashore awhile back. I didn't know what it was, so I didn't mess with it. You can have it if you want.

I can't believe someone left a mana item just lying around like this...Could there be more? There aren't any alchemists around here. Where'd it come from? Did something happen around here a long time ago, maybe?





Unfortunately, we can't make more Sleepaids without a Mana who can handle Spirit. Perhaps we'll meet such a Mana soon.





There's not much else to note about this place. A couple raw Mana, a save point...exciting times.





There are two paths between Kavoc and Lake Forwel. One of them contains this field. These places are worth stopping by, because sometimes they contain treasure, or even...





Growloons!

Besides contributing to the “murder the Growloons” sidequest, Klein can extract one Holy and one Evil Element from them. We have no use for these yet, but I'm sure they'll be nice to have later.





Fade out/in (?)





No use complaining about it. There's not a lot we can do.


Lita starts to walk offscreen.


Where are you going?

I'm going to go dry off...and no peeking! I'm talking to YOU, Delsus!

Heh, no thanks.









I should be safe here...







Who's there!?










Music: Village of Snow and Glass


Yeah, I'm soaked...

Oh my gosh, you're right. Here, dry off before you catch cold...Uh...

What's wrong?

I'm sorry...I was just wondering how you got that bruise.

Oh, this? It's not a bruise, it's a seal.

A seal?

Yes. I got it when -


And the scene just kind of ends there. All right, then?





Why hello, ladies. Need any help?

… …





The lady knight storms off back towards Kavoc.


Oh, so now I'M the bad guy...

You're a pervert!





Man, I forgot how many characters get introduced all at the beginning here. Anyway, the (somewhat poor quality) Stained Grass is up in the treetop here.


It's a little cracked, but this one should do.

Are you sure?

If we looked a little more, we could find a better one.

I doubt it. We're lucky we found any stained grass at all.

He's right...Stained grass is unusual around here.

Hey, how do you know about this stuff?

Um...HELLO!? I'm the Mana of wood!

Er, anyway...This grass usually only grows up north, where it's cold.


That's good to know, I guess, if we ever need any more Stained Grass.

(it's actually pretty useful stuff)





We sure did, but...it's a little cracked.

Don't worry about it. I was going to shatter it anyway. I need small pieces for the lure.

Told you so.

Don't get too cocky. For anything else, this wouldn't work. If you're this lazy with your other jobs, your reputation'll go down the tubes.

Yeah, yeah...I'll be more careful next time.

Make sure that you are, man. You could go far if you set your mind to it.


Gemlis hands over 325 Cole.


We should head back to Kavoc. I'm sure the heat's blown over by now.





Gemlis actually sells stuff, by the way. I bought him out of Fish Islands on principle. Those things are just ~adorable~.





Well, that should do for today. Jon me next time at the outdoor Theater, when the plot's gears finally start to spin into motion...